Ward's Auto Backs Up Rumor That i-DTEC is Dead

Ward's Auto has made further inquires into the Honda i-DTEC rumor and has confirmed with a "source" that “The (diesel in the) Acura has been canceled." For me this is still a very shocking development. Plans get changed all the time, but for Honda to yank a product that it's CEO had promised seems unthinkable.

According to Ward's, Honda will delay introducing a diesel in America until 2010 or later. I would suspect that when it does, the engine will be a V6 and made available in vehicles like the Odyssey, Pilot, MDX, and Ridgeline.

Honda's i-DTEC was of great interest because it did not use a urea aftertreatment like so many other diesels are required to do. As far as I know, only the two liter Volkswagen TDI available in the Jetta also forgoes the urea aftertreatment route. I guess it's not that big a deal to have to refill a urea tank every 10k-15k miles, but the other way seems to be a sexier solution.

Oh well, let's wait and see what Nissan has up its sleeve for us with its diesel Maxima.



source: Ward's Auto via ToV